Discover which UK practitioners have been awarded bursaries to attend a disability arts festival in Germany
Jo Bannon performs We Are F*cked as part of the No Limits Festival. Photo: Paul Samuel White
We're thrilled to announce the artists who will travel to the No Limits Festival as part of our bursary scheme with our partners on this progamme, Unlimited.
The No Limits Festival in Berlin focuses on disability related arts, and activism in the disability arts sector. The biennial festival is an important event in Germany's disability arts calendar. It works with established venues within Berlin's thriving independent scene to present leading disability-led companies and disabled artists from Germany and around the world. Alongside the work, there is a symposium promising lively debate and speakers.
This is a chance for these UK practitioners to experience a cultural aesthetic which is very different from the UK and to network with artists and arts professionals. The festival is also ideal for practitioners who want to broaden their understanding of the global disability arts movement.
The bursary winners were selected by an open call for disabled artists based in the UK. This forms part of our commitment to make sure that the UK theatre and dance sector is represented in all of its diversity on the world stage. Our partnership with Unlimited aims to ensure that the UK’s disabled artists benefit from these opportunities.
'There are very real barriers which prevent professionals from underrepresented groups from accessing international networks, which means they are at a disadvantage in getting to know what works internationally and how best to build connections', says Ben Evans, our Head of Arts and Disability for the EU. 'We hope that these bursaries, and our IETM bursary scheme goes a small way to help remove some of these barriers.'
The bursary winners for the No Limits Festival are:
Alexandrina Hemsley
Alexandrina Hemsley is a performer and choreographer based in London, who has performed internationally since 2009. She is part of Project O and her writing has been published by SPILL Festival, Sick of The Fringe and as the foreword for Selina Thompson's .salt.
Chisato Minamura
Chisato Minamimura is a Deaf dance artist and choreographer based in the UK, who danced with Candoco for three years. Her own work brings a unique Deaf perspective to dance and music. She explores the visualisation of sound, the relationship between sign language and mime, and the latest digital technology.
Clair Beckett
Clair Beckett is a dance artist based in the south west of England with Tourette's Syndrome who uses her work to spread awareness of this often misrepresented condition.
Daisy Hale
Daisy Hale is a freelance producer, practitioner, artist and theatre creative working in cabaret, performance art and live events. Her work is socially engaged and involves working with communities to find access points for them in arts spaces.
Sarah Hopfinger
Sarah Hopfinger is an artist-academic and lecturer in Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her practice sits between live art, contemporary performance and choreography. Her performance and research engages with ecological questions and ideas.
Stephen Bailey
Stephen Bailey is a disabled theatre director who works closely with Access All Areas and is an agent for change for Theatre Royal Stratford East.
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